Text in English / The study unravels moral perversion in selected post-independence detective Shona novels. Moral perversion is a multi-faceted concept and the study focuses on corruption, sexual harassment, abuse of office, stealing, poaching and illegal manufacturing of intoxicating products as the key definers of moral perversion. Afrocentricity merged with Kawaida philosophy are the lenses used to pass critical judgements on the extent the selected literary practitioners portrayed literature rooted in the African ontological existence on moral perversion. Fictional works used as primary sources are Sajeni Chimedza (1984), Mutikitivha Dumbuzenene (1991), Munzwa mundove (1999) and Dandemutande, (1998). All the novels are set in the post-independence era in Zimbabwe when moral perversion is rife. The study is qualitative in nature and data was gathered using questionnaires and interviews from literary critics, publishers and novelists. Particular attention is paid on the causes of moral perversion, images of people in leadership positions and the implications of character assassination of leaders in relation to the development of purposeful literature. The study contends that moral insanity is an acknowledged problem in the post-independence era and novelists are portraying leaders as the chief culprits manning factionalism and unorthodox ways of acquiring resources at the expense of the majority of citizenry. Guided and informed by Afrocentricity, the study argues that novelists are raising pertinent issues although their views are myopic, simplistic and self-defeating because they are failing to see that the leaders are also victims who are victimizing other victims. Blaming the leadership on moral perversion ignoring the impact of colonialism, and neo-colonialism in shaping African personality creates more harm than good as this exonerates the imperialistic system of exploitation which impinges on African culture and personality. Therefore, the study argues that novelists erroneously blame individuals for the sins of a system. There is need to interrogate both external and internal factors to establish sustainable home-grown problem solving solutions to improve human condition and the development of functional literature in Africa. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Guru Dutt was one of the most important filmmakers in India, who worked for a little over a decade starting in 1951. He died prematurely in 1964. In those few years, he made some of Indian cinema?s most memorable films. Song and dance sequences are an integral part of the narrative structure of popular Indian cinema. Guru Dutt, working within that paradigm, devised innovative methods of using song sequences. In his films, the song sequences were not a distraction, but they served the purpose of carrying the narrative forward, expressing the inexpressible, and replacing scenes. He achieved this by his creative use of locations, lyrics, music, camera angles, and placement of the song within the narrative. This study critically analyzes song sequences from five of his films ? Aar Paar (Through and Through, 1954), Mr. and Mrs. 55 (1955), Pyaasa (The Thirsty One, 1957), Kaagaz ke Phool (Paper Flowers, 1959) and Saahib Biwi aur Ghulam (Master Mistress and Slave, 1962). Guru Dutt?s style of song direction focused on realistic depiction and the quality of storytelling. He used each feature of the song to his advantage never losing control of the larger narrative. This study also brings to the fore Guru Dutt?s conflicted views as an artist on the issues of tradition and modernity, and the position of women in the emerging nation.

This study seeks to analyze the process of transition and democratization in Kyrgyzstan from 1990 to 2000. The collapse of the Soviet Union opened new political perspectives for Kyrgyzstan and a chance to develop sovereign state based on democratic principles and values. Initially Kyrgyzstan attained some progress in building up a democratic state. However, in the second half of 1990s Kyrgyzstan shifted toward authoritarianism. Therefore, the full-scale transition to democracy has not been realized, and a well-functioning democracy has not been established. This study aims to focus on the impediments that led to the failure of establishing democracy in Kyrgyzstan. It analyzes the role of economy, political elites and political culture in the form of tribalism in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the economic and political changes that have been undergoing since independence. The political and economic developments in Kyrgyzstan are discussed with specific reference to the hardships in economic transition, elite continuity and role of tribal and clan structures in present politics.

À travers l’analyse de la vie des protagonistes, le malaise et le dysfonctionnement socio-politique, économique et culturel des post-indépendances, cette étude met en exergue les différentes formes de violences dans les romans suivants : The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Fragments d’Ayi Kwei Armah, Kill Me Quick, Going Down River Road, The Cockroach Dance et The Big Chiefs de Meja Mwangi et Dangerous Love de Ben Okri. La thématique de la désillusion s’incruste comme un leitmotiv dans tous ces romans. L’omniprésence de la désillusion permet de montrer le caractère violent de la perte des illusions. L’émergence des régimes dictatoriaux après l’indépendance dans plusieurs pays africains où la corruption, le clientélisme et l’affairisme sont érigés en mode de gouvernement entraînent une dissonance profonde et un malaise sans précédent. Si ces violences puisent, d’une part, leur origine dans la déstructuration de la vie sociopolitique, économique et culturelle causée par la colonisation, elles sont dues, d’autre part, aux dysfonctionnements de la société post-indépendante. Ces violences, ces dissonances et la tyrannie du pouvoir atteignent leur sommet dans un pays imaginaire, vraisemmblablement le Rwanda, où la cruauté des massacres et l'absurdité de l'idéologie de l'Hutu Power appelant au génocide des Tutsi dépassent l'entendement humain / Through the analysis of the daily life of the protagonists, the socio-political, economic and cultural post-independence dissonance and malaise, this study spotlights the different forms of violence as portrayed in Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Fragments, Meja Mwangi’s Kill Me Quick, Going Down River Road, The Cockroach Dance, The Big Chiefs and Ben Okris’ Dangerous Love. The theme of post-independence disillusionment is pervasive in all these novels. The omnipresence of this disenchantment enables to point out the violence which is inherent in the loss of illusion. The dictatorial regimes which emerge in many African states, after independence, lead to a great and deep dissonance and unprecedented malaise: corruption, embezzlement and nepotism become the norms of ruling. If this violence finds its roots, on the one hand, in the violent socio-political, economic and cultural disorganisation of traditional African society by colonisation, it is also, on the other hand, due to post-independence disjuncture and bitterness. Tyranny of power, dissonance and violence have plunged an imaginary country, probably Rwanda , into an extreme violence where the cruelty of the massacres and the absurdity of Hutu Power's ideology exhorting Hutu people to exterminate the Tutsi are beyond all understanding

This study explores the shifting roles of teacher unions in pre-and post-independence Namibia, against the backdrop of a changing political context. My aim was to understand the roles of teacher unions both before and after independence in Namibia, and to explain how they changed in the different political contexts. To do so, I examined the teacher union roles in three distinct phases, namely pre-independence, immediately post-independence, taking in the period from 1990 to 1999, and the last decade, from 2000 up until today. In approaching the research questions, I worked on the assumption that understanding and explaining the roles of teacher unions in pre- and post-independence Namibia could best be achieved by interacting with participants who were or had been involved in education and the teacher unions in Namibia. I argued that their experiences would be important in constructing knowledge on the unions, particularly regarding their roles before and after independence. I chose a narrative design for the study, because it allowed me to interact with the participants to gain deeper meanings from their individual perspectives. Narrative design was appropriate to this research, because it also allowed me to trace the way events in education mirrored those in the national political arena, and to explain why particular tendencies emerged. I used the information collected during the interviews and document analysis as the data for the study. Four themes emerged regarding the roles of teacher unions in the contexts of pre- and post-independence Namibia, around which I conceptualized the study. These were the shifting historic roles of these unions in Namibia, the institutional frameworks and modalities for union participation, the contextual factors relating to the roles of the unions, and the changed roles of the unions in contemporary Namibia. The findings of the study suggested, firstly, that teacher unions play different roles in different political contexts, and that these roles are shaped by contextual factors. Secondly, the research established that the unions in the post-independence contexts did not necessarily have a vision of a labour-driven process of radical strategic change, as postulated by the theory of strategic unionism. Instead, the findings suggest that teacher unions in contemporary Namibia are influenced and shaped by the broader political and social factors of a new hierarchical political culture, by political and economic middle-class aspirations, and by undefined party-government-teacher union relationships. I conclude the study by suggesting an expansion of the concept of strategic unionism to include the nuances of political and economic contexts and aspirations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This study pursues the quest and struggle for total liberation in post-independence Shona poetry. The study also relies on views of key respondents obtained through interviews and questionnaires. Couched and guided by Afrocentricity and Africana womanism, the study elucidates the politico-economic and socio-cultural factors that militate against Africa’s total liberation in general as well as women’s liberation, respectively. Simultaneously, critical judgments are passed on the extent to which poets immerse their art in African existential philosophy. The study is energized by the idea that pursuing the quest for authentic liberation provides a lens through which one can understand threats to Africa’s true liberation. It observes that poets and key informants largely attribute ersartz independence to internal problems. The researcher holds that it is problematic to hold a domesticated vision of the African condition to the extent that poets and other literary workers need to widen their canvas beyond fighting internal oppression and internationalise the struggle. The researcher argues that it is myopic and self-defeating to protest against Africa itself without giving adequate attention to the incapacitating hegemonic world system. Therefore, the poetry is lacking on its critique on domination. The centerpiece of the thesis is that in order to be purposeful and functional, poets need to grapple with both endogenous and exogenous factors that obstruct the march towards genuine liberation. The study also observes that in some instances poets produce cheap literature which is marked by a narrow and moralistic approach and this is attributable to the fact that poets lack a scientific vision in understanding reality. Concerning women’s authentic liberation, the commonly identified obstacles to women’s freedom are the male counterpart, self-depreciation, lack of education and culture. The study observes that women poets in Ngatisimuke (1994) and key respondents seem to approach gender relations from a feminist perspective and hence fail to situate women’s condition in the context of the history and culture that shape African gender relations. Women poets in Ngatisimuke fall short of internationalising their struggle in concert with the male counterpart such that their poetry degenerates into sponsored and misguided activism. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This thesis is an in-depth study of Shona fiction about the liberation war in Zimbabwe. It looks at the way Zimbabwe’s liberation war is portrayed in Shona fiction and focuses on the factors that shaped writers’ perspectives on that war. It is argued that Shona war fiction writers romanticised the war and in the process simplified and distorted history. The researcher postulates that writers’ perspectives on this liberation war were shaped by factors that include the mood of celebration and euphoria, the dominant ideology of the time, the situations of independence and freedom, and literary competitions. The thesis further raises and illustrates the point that writers produced romances of adventure because they were writing on the theme of war, and if one writes on the theme of war one ends up writing an adventure story. However, it is also acknowledged that because authors were writing on a historical event they could not ignore history completely. Some aspects of history are incorporated into the fiction, thereby retaining a semblance of historical realism. The post-independence period is also seen as a time of cultural revival and this is considered as the reason behind the authors’ tendency to celebrate Shona traditional institutions and culture. The celebration of Shona traditional religion and culture introduced into the fiction the element of the supernatural that strengthened the romance aspect of the novels. Shona war fiction writers also perpetuate female stereotyping. Female characters are depicted as everything except guerrilla fighters. It is argued that there are no female characters that play roles of guerrilla fighters because during the actual war women were not visible at the war front, fighting. The thesis argues that men, who were pioneers of the guerrilla war and writers of the war stories, excluded women from liberation war discourse and ultimately from literary discourse as well. A few writers who comment on the quality of Zimbabwe’s independence and freedom show the disillusionment and despair of the peasants and ex-combatants as they struggled to settle down and recover from the war. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil.

This thesis is an exegesis of the portrayal of deviance in selected post-independence Shona fictional works. The analysis is done within the context of moralisation in Shona literature. The forms of deviant behaviour discussed include prostitution, homosexuality, crime and violence and negligence of duty within families. The fictional works are Mapenzi (1999), Totanga Patsva (2003), Ndozviudza Aniko? (2006), Ndafa Here? (2008), and Makaitei? (2008). All the fictional works are set during the period of the Zimbabwe Crisis and this becomes the context of the criticism of the manner in which deviance is handled by the writers. Particular attention is paid on the causes and solutions to deviance, images of deviants and the implications of such images in attempting to understand the realities of deviant behaviour. The research adopts an eclectic approach through a combination of literary and sociological theories to unpack issues concerning the litigious subject of deviance. The research fully acknowledges that deviance is a fluid and controversial concept as it varies with cultural frameworks and historical periods of certain societies. Thus the research has endeavoured to locate deviance with the ambit of Shona existential philosophy and the period of the Zimbabwe crisis. The research advances the argument that no human being is inherently deviant but there are certain circumstances and eventualities that are responsible for the development of such a personality. Therefore deviance herein is viewed as a response to the situation and in the case of this research it is the crisis which then is responsible for nurturing the people into deviance. In most of the situations, deviance is shown to be essentially a survival strategy by those who engage in it. Prostitution, homosexuality and crime have been shown to be largely economic necessities as the collapsing economy during the period of the crisis came with amorphous challenges and people resorted to anti-social behaviour in an attempt to live contenting lives. With regards to prostitution, homosexuality and crime, the writers have to a larger extent been able to contextualise deviance in terms of the crisis although Mabasa has been shown to display some ambivalence in his treatment of prostitutes in Mapenzi and Ndafa Here? There are instances he castigates prostitutes as social renegades which somehow weakens his vision. Apart from this, it has also been argued that deviant behaviour can be a result of the frustrations people face as they battle the vagaries of life. Violence and negligence of duty within families is argued to be a consequence of the frustrations from the poverty brought by the crisis and the movement into the diaspora as this has its own challenges that disempower people to carry out their duties as sanctioned by culture. Also, the research advances the argument that oral literature continues to impact on written literature and one such area is that of moralisation which continues to be a major priority of the writers. Except for the authors of the short stories in Totanga Patsva, moralisation on issues to do with deviance has been done in an enlightening way as the writers unearth the underlying causes of deviant behaviour and these are found in society and not individuals. The writers of the short stories have shown to be largely influenced by feminism and erroneously blame male deviants for the problems faced by women instead of explaining men`s behaviour in the context colonialism and neo-colonialism which brought various challenges related to gender relations in Africa not experienced hitherto. The direction in terms of qualitative development which Shona literature is taking in post-independence era is positive as the writers are shown to be tackling sensitive political, social and economic issues and their impact on the human condition. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil.

This thesis is an exegesis of the portrayal of deviance in selected post-independence Shona fictional works. The analysis is done within the context of moralisation in Shona literature. The forms of deviant behaviour discussed include prostitution, homosexuality, crime and violence and negligence of duty within families. The fictional works are Mapenzi (1999), Totanga Patsva (2003), Ndozviudza Aniko? (2006), Ndafa Here? (2008), and Makaitei? (2008). All the fictional works are set during the period of the Zimbabwe Crisis and this becomes the context of the criticism of the manner in which deviance is handled by the writers. Particular attention is paid on the causes and solutions to deviance, images of deviants and the implications of such images in attempting to understand the realities of deviant behaviour. The research adopts an eclectic approach through a combination of literary and sociological theories to unpack issues concerning the litigious subject of deviance. The research fully acknowledges that deviance is a fluid and controversial concept as it varies with cultural frameworks and historical periods of certain societies. Thus the research has endeavoured to locate deviance with the ambit of Shona existential philosophy and the period of the Zimbabwe crisis. The research advances the argument that no human being is inherently deviant but there are certain circumstances and eventualities that are responsible for the development of such a personality. Therefore deviance herein is viewed as a response to the situation and in the case of this research it is the crisis which then is responsible for nurturing the people into deviance. In most of the situations, deviance is shown to be essentially a survival strategy by those who engage in it. Prostitution, homosexuality and crime have been shown to be largely economic necessities as the collapsing economy during the period of the crisis came with amorphous challenges and people resorted to anti-social behaviour in an attempt to live contenting lives. With regards to prostitution, homosexuality and crime, the writers have to a larger extent been able to contextualise deviance in terms of the crisis although Mabasa has been shown to display some ambivalence in his treatment of prostitutes in Mapenzi and Ndafa Here? There are instances he castigates prostitutes as social renegades which somehow weakens his vision. Apart from this, it has also been argued that deviant behaviour can be a result of the frustrations people face as they battle the vagaries of life. Violence and negligence of duty within families is argued to be a consequence of the frustrations from the poverty brought by the crisis and the movement into the diaspora as this has its own challenges that disempower people to carry out their duties as sanctioned by culture. Also, the research advances the argument that oral literature continues to impact on written literature and one such area is that of moralisation which continues to be a major priority of the writers. Except for the authors of the short stories in Totanga Patsva, moralisation on issues to do with deviance has been done in an enlightening way as the writers unearth the underlying causes of deviant behaviour and these are found in society and not individuals. The writers of the short stories have shown to be largely influenced by feminism and erroneously blame male deviants for the problems faced by women instead of explaining men`s behaviour in the context colonialism and neo-colonialism which brought various challenges related to gender relations in Africa not experienced hitherto. The direction in terms of qualitative development which Shona literature is taking in post-independence era is positive as the writers are shown to be tackling sensitive political, social and economic issues and their impact on the human condition. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil.

A partir de uma análise comparativa de duas obras do romance moçambicano, Os sobreviventes da noite (2008), de Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa, e Neighbours (1995), de Lilia Momplé, é possível visualizar certo tipo de estruturação da narrativa em que o tempo presente parece afetado por engastes narrativos que interceptam constantemente o avanço da ação. A esses engastes narrativos correspondem inúmeras camadas de passado em que as histórias pessoais de cada personagem ganham vez na economia da obra e se sobrepõem ao tempo que corresponde à ação no presente. Essa característica estética, aqui chamada de presente dependente, é analisada à luz de uma crítica materialista que tenta conectar o dado estético à dimensão histórica do período em que essas obras foram escritas e a que ambas fazem referência. O enredo dos dois romances situa-se no conflito armado que se seguiu à independência de Moçambique. Nesse sentido, a investigação avança sobre as hipóteses que, entre a literatura e a história, motivam o fato de duas obras tratarem de um mesmo momento histórico através de estruturas estéticas aproximáveis. / Starting from a comparative analysis of two novels pertaining to the literature from Mozambique, Os sobreviventes da noite (2008), by Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa, and Neighbours (1995), by Lilia Momplé, its possible to visualize a certain kind of narrative structuring in which the present seems affected by narrative insertions that constantly intercept the progress of the action. These narrative insertions are the countless layers of a past in which the personal stories of each character have the turn in the economy of the novel and put themselves on the top of the present, when the action is happening. This esthetic characteristic, here nominated as dependant present, is analyzed illuminated by a materialist criticism that tries to connect the esthetic fact to the historic dimension of the period when these novels were written and both make reference to. The plot of the two novels is situated in the armed conflict that emerged after the independence of Mozambique. In this meaning, the investigation advances in the hypothesis that, among literature and history, motivates the fact that both the novels treat about the same historic moment using esthetic structurings that, possibly, are close one to the other.